Finding Property Owners when it's not an individual
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Articles of Organization, Operating Agreement, Registered Agent and Other Important Documents for an LLC
People commonly establish LLCs so their properties or other assets cannot be taken from them by creditors. Establishing an LLC bank account and credit cards can also help overcome some financing hurdles.
However, even an LLC must take precautions against potential traceback in public records such as state filings or business directories.
Articles of Organization
Once you've decided to incorporate, one of the first steps should be filing articles of organization or charter with your state. Also referred to as certificate of formation or charter, this official document establishes your company at a state level and offers legal protection from personal liability for you as an owner and informs others where to send lawsuits and legal notices regarding it. For this process and form to occur successfully in each state varies, but typically includes sections for your company name, members, purpose, structure as well as registered agent contact details as well.
Most states provide standard articles of organization forms, but you may wish to utilize an outside service that offers document preparation at a fee. Such services often cover state filing fees as well as helping you choose your management structure and effective date of your LLC.
Some states require that articles of organization be signed by an organizer; this person does not need to be a member or manager of your business. Once these articles have been accepted by a state, your business becomes considered domiciled in that state and subject to its laws and codes. If you wish to form in another state instead, however, additional articles and a notice in a local newspaper confirming your new location must be filed - in addition to following their rules regarding bank accounts, EIN numbers and managing operations of your new venture.
Operating Agreement
An operating agreement is a legal document that outlines how a limited liability company (LLC) will be run, providing details like how decisions will be made and outlining rights and responsibilities for owners, also known as members, as well as helping ensure legality - without such an agreement, the business would inevitably fall back upon default rules prescribed by state law.
An operating agreement should outline all the basic details about a business, including its name and address, type of industry it operates in, type of service being offered etc. These details will assist potential investors and customers in assessing whether the company meets their needs. Furthermore, its operating agreement should outline how the LLC will be managed - from decision making methods to voting mechanisms (based on ownership percentage or another measure). Operating agreements should outline how profits and losses will be shared among members, whether salaries or other forms of compensation will be provided, the process for transferring ownership interests, as well as tax treatment of an LLC (by default, it will likely be taxed as partnerships or disregarded entities); they can opt to be treated as either C-corps or S-corps by filing IRS forms with appropriate documentation.
If you want to identify who owns an LLC, public records searches on the Secretary of State website may help. Simply search by name for that particular LLC and look up documents filed with them, such as its Articles of Organization or check corporate records to identify who serves as point-of-contact.
Annual Reports
Annual reports are an integral component of doing business in many states, providing information to shareholders and other stakeholders regarding how a company has managed its finances and operations during the previous year. They can range from detailed tome filled with intricate financial data to brief infographic-style newsletters; either way it's important that businesses file one annually to remain compliant with state requirements while showing potential investors or customers strong operations at work.
Reports can help identify the owners of an LLC; however, you can also gain information from other sources, including business directories and online searches. Some methods may be more reliable than others; the key is starting with public state records before moving onto other sources as necessary.
Searching an LLC's annual reports requires making an information request with your state Secretary of State's office, either online or via telephone. Once received, this response enables you to search the information for names of its owners.
If you're searching for an LLC owner in a specific county, using a public search portal provided by either the county clerk's office or recorder's office can also be beneficial. Here you can search for the entity in question and display any possible results such as names of owners, managers or representatives that might appear. If no results appear online you could also try searching social media; someone could have mentioned themselves as owners on their personal profiles!
Registered Agent
A registered agent is an essential element of an LLC's business filing process. He or she serves as a point-of-contact with government correspondence, and in most states must be public information. Their role ensures compliance with state regulations while helping you track any potential issues before they become legal issues.
In most instances, registered agents for LLCs must maintain an address in the state in which their LLC was formed. This information can usually be found through searching an online database maintained by each state's Secretary of State office or by visiting their company website itself to ascertain who owns it.
Some states mandate LLCs to list their members and managers in their articles of organization, providing an easy way to determine who owns an LLC. Unfortunately, however, this information may not always be freely accessible - depending on your state of residency you may need to submit a request with details about your purpose and request the list of owners from them directly.
Apart from searching online, social media can also be an excellent source for identifying LLC owners. Many people list themselves as LLC members or owners on their profiles - providing an easy and quick way of discovering who owns an LLC.
Although New York requires all companies to have a registered agent, LLCs often elect their own address as their registered agent. If this occurs, an LLC must notify the Department of State by filing a Certificate of Change form with them.
Corporate Records
One primary benefit of forming a corporation or LLC is limited liability protection for owners. If the business gets into debt, creditors cannot pursue personal assets (house, savings accounts etc) belonging to owners as payment for debts owed. But for this protection to work properly, strict legal and financial practices need to be adhered to as well as keeping thorough corporate records.
Corporate records provide an account of your business activities and ownership structure. At their core, corporate records consist of articles of organization and operating agreements - two basic records required by most states for operations to function legally. They should typically be stored at your primary place of business location.
Other essential documents include financial records, contracts and agreements with suppliers or employees. Any tax records should be retained for at least three years in case an audit occurs.
Capital contribution documents form part of an LLC's corporate records, detailing contributions of cash or property made to it. Depending on state law, an accounting may need to be kept of how these contributions were spent.
Every corporation and LLC should obtain an Employee Identification Number, or EIN. An EIN can help open bank accounts and file other paperwork related to business operations; additionally, filing taxes requires having an EIN. If an LLC wishes to operate in other states, registration in each of those jurisdictions -- known as foreign qualifying -- must occur first by filing applications and paying fees as well as possibly establishing formalities such as appointing registered agents and creating other formalities.
